ALICE LASCELLES
What a vodka revival could mean for gin
Our guest columnist ponders how changes in vodka could help gin
What I’m about to say probably amounts to heresy in Gin Magazine, but I would like, for a moment, to talk about vodka. Because I think this spirit – which has been pretty unfashionable for almost a decade now – could be set for a comeback in the next couple of years, as consumers overwhelmed by the cacophony of colours, botanicals and flavour profiles in the gin aisle go in search of something quieter, cleaner and more ‘focused’.
Vodka came unstuck last time around partly because it didn’t talk about flavour. Brands wittered on about arctic water sources and mystical filtration techniques, but it was all style and no substance. For a while, the category kept us rapt with an increasingly monstrous array of vodka variants: bubblegum, pumpkin pie, popcorn, smoked salmon (for real). But you rarely saw a brand with the confidence to talk about the taste of the actual raw ingredients it was distilled from. And in the end, that undermined its credibility.
This is a shame because, contrary to received wisdom, vodkas can vary enormously depending on what they’re made from. Potato produces a vodka that’s creamier and more full-bodied, while rye produces a spirit that’s more robust and spicy. Wheat vodkas are typically peppery and sweet, with notes of aniseed, while grape vodkas are often more citrusy and floral. These days we’re all much more interested in the provenance of our food and drink – where it comes from, how it’s made – which is why I think the time is ripe for vodka to really take things back to basics, and talk about those simple things that make them taste the way they do.
What has this got to do with gin, you may ask? More than you might think, because the character of the base spirit can have a big impact on the flavour and feel of a gin too. Yet up until now it’s rarely been part of the discussion. This is partly because gin producers haven’t historically had a hand in making the base spirit they use – the majority just buy in industrially-distilled ‘neutral grain spirit’, which is distilled to such a high strength that it’s rendered almost flavourless. Thanks to the grain-to-glass movement, however, we’re now seeing more and more gin producers making their spirits from scratch – growing and distilling the grain, the potatoes, the fruit that provide a canvas for their botanicals. And the results can be very distinctive.
Scotland’s Arbikie Distillery makes all its gins using base spirit distilled from ingredients grown on the family farm in Arbroath. Kirsty’s Gin is based on a distillate of three potato varieties – Maris Piper, King Edward and Cultra – which results in a gin that’s creamy and smooth. Arbikie’s AK’s Gin, by contrast, is based on a distillate of Viscount wheat, which has a more fine-tuned, delicately spicy character. Both the potato and wheat recipes are also bottled in their own right as vodkas – and the differences between the two are striking.
“In the past people have just been focused on varieties that produce a big yield, but we’re trying to put the focus more back on flavour – exploring heritage varieties, and planting on different plots,” says Arbikie co-founder Iain Stirling. “Our grain-to-glass approach means we even have the scope in the future to produce vintage spirits with proper terroir, just like a wine.”
“the time is ripe for vodka... to talk about those simple things that make them taste the way they do”
As the English wine industry grows, grapebased gins are becoming more common. Chapel Down winery in Kent does two grape-based gins – one using the skins of the red grape pinot noir (characterised by red berry notes) and another using the white grape bacchus (a native varietal that tastes like elderflower-y sauvignon blanc). Once you taste gins like these it seems extraordinary that the base spirit is not more commonly discussed. That’s rather why I hope vodka does make a comeback in a new, more nuanced guise – it could really teach the gin world a thing or two.
@alicelascelles
Alice Lascelles writes about drinks for the Financial Times and is Fortnum & Mason Drinks Writer 2019.